Athletic Trainer For Harlem Globetrotters Killed Near Frederick

FREDERICK, Colo. (CBS4) – Weld County deputies are searching for the gun used to kill an athletic trainer for the Harlem Globetrotters.

The body of Thomas Bashline, 42, was found Friday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies rushed to the 7000 block of County Road 11, west of Frederick after 4 p.m. Bashline’s girlfriend, Yvette Reyes, called 911 and said he was not moving.

Reyes said Bashline was okay when she left for work Friday morning. When she returned from work she found Bashline dead in the bedroom.

Sheriff’s officials said there were an undisclosed amount of gunshot wounds, but didn’t provide any more information.

“Investigators are going through items in the house to try to find anything that would be an indicator,” Margie Martinez with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said.

Martinez said there were signs of a struggle.

Family members told CBS4 they are horrified by Bashline’s death.

“We just are pretty much stunned. None of us can believe that such a horrible act of violence can happen to anyone,” Bashline’s uncle Robert Bashline said.

“Why somebody would do this; there’s just no reason for it. It’s just unbelievable,” Bashline’s father Raymond Bashline said.

An autopsy has been preformed, but the results have not been released.

Thomas-Bashline (credit: Facebook)

“There have been no suspects identified at this time,” Martinez said.

Bashline was also an athletic trainer at Brighton High School. He became employed by the Globetrotters in 2009.

“Out of the 1,000 applications that the Globetrotters received they picked him overwhelmingly. He had been to several of the games and all the guys loved him,” Raymond Bashline said. “He worked very hard to get where he was at.

“He was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back, even if it was in a snowstorm,” Raymond Bashline said.

The Globetrotters issued a statement saying they just learned of the tragic loss of their trainer. “Our condolences go out to Tom’s family and friends. The entire Globetrotters organization is deeply saddened by this news.”